Anyone else hate car hunting?

rG-tom

rG-tom

rG-tom

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Joined
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Hey guys,

Maybe it's just because i'm so fussy, but I hate trying to find a new car. I'm checking pistonheads and autotrader 4-5 times a day, and not a single suitable car has cropped up in the last week.

I think i'm just looking for an unpopular combo: 2001-2005 BMW 330i saloon manual, with leather, sat nav and xenons.

Almost all 330's that are manual with a half decent spec are coupe or cabriolet, and i want a saloon for insurance reasons (considerably easier to insure) and almost all 330 saloons with a decent spec are either auto or diesel. ARGH. Also, why do so many people love alacantra, maybe on a proper sports car with buckets but BMWs just aint right without leather.

Where would you guys look? I'm trying pistonheads, autotrader, BMWLand and ive also signed up for BCA, but having not much luck at all!

More of a rant than anything!

Tom.
 
I can't believe that coupe makes that much of a difference. Infact for me its less than £20 in it between saloon and coupe.
 
It's going to take you months to find one becuase you are after an unusual spec - most people with loads of cash to burn such that going bonkers with the options list was on their mind didn't buy a 3 Series and those that did tended to go the whole hog and spec the autobox as well, especially given 5-6 years ago OEM Satnav was nowhere near as popular as it is today.

It took me 6 months to find mine and my spec was LESS fussy than yours.

Be prepared for the long wait, or compromise on specification.
 
Muffin` said:
Why do you want nav? cba with removable?
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it makes the dash look about 20 years newer :p

also it makes things like integration with ipod MUCH neater. The actual nav function is a bit poor, but i just like the general use of it (plus i hate the look of the dash sans nav)
 
Also, why do so many people love alacantra
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Becuase it was free and leather was £1200. Remember that the 3 Series was the entry level saloon and therefore the average buyer was more cost concious than they would be if they were speccing a 5 or a 7 Series. Therefore more people were likely to stick with standard specification rather than pay for options.
 
paradigm said:
I can't believe that coupe makes that much of a difference. Infact for me its less than £20 in it between saloon and coupe.
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Well, once i'm 21 there isnt much money in it....my problem is that with directline they actually wont insure me at all on coupe or cab until im 21, and im stuck with them until next year. Plus coupes are typicall +50% of the price for the same spec when you can find 2 to compare....not worth it for just losing 2 doors.
 
[TW]Fox;11880520 said:
Becuase it was free and leather was £1200. Remember that the 3 Series was the entry level saloon and therefore the average buyer was more cost concious than they would be if they were speccing a 5 or a 7 Series. Therefore more people were likely to stick with standard specification rather than pay for options.
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i see more cars with nav and alacantra than nav and leather, but more cars without nav with leather than alacantra.....figure that one out
 
paradigm said:
Buy a cheaper 330i and retrofit nav?
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again when they pop up the ones with nav demand barely anymore, but nav takes about 3 days and costs £1500 to retrofit. 330i saloons dont go cheap enough on facelift with xenons for me to buy one and retrofit nav in my budget (up to 9k) but ones with nav when they come up are well within

I missed one last week, 04 plate with 114k miles FBMWSH bixenons nav leather bluetooth, black with mv2 alloys, £7900. Shows they do exist for a decent price, but that was typically no more than you could get one without the options for....they dont affect resale value as much as they cost to actually add
 
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rG-tom said:
again when they pop up the ones with nav demand barely anymore
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But as you've found, simply don't exist in any sort of numbers in good condition!

'I wont buy this one becuase if there was another with nav in the same condition, which there isnt hence this thread moaning, it wouldn't be much more!'
 
they do come up, i just need to be more patient :p I rushed into my last car purchase and that didn't go well did it :p I'd rather wait for one that i want. I'm willing to compromise on nav as long as the price is low enough, but even then xenons are quite rare too.....most that have xenons already have nav

It's a waiting game. This was a rant thread rather than a "why cant i find one" thread, i know exactly why im struggling
 
Yes, its even worse when 3 of the correct car come along at the same time and you have to pick one.

Knowing if you pick the wrong one its going to be a world of pain.
 
I honestly wouldn't be bothered with nav, yes its nice but due to the way the 3 Series dash is you can fit an aftermarket head unit and it will look fine, it's nothing like the situation with the 5 series where aftermarket just looks terrible.
 
paradigm said:
Pfft. E46 with aftermarket HU looks turd tbh.
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No it doesn't - the stock radio is almost DIN sized so it fits in just fine. It doesn't look 'wow' but it doesn't look turd.

It certainly doesn't look turd enough to continually discount otherwise suitable cars.
 
paradigm said:
Sorry, but in my personal opinion, it looks utter bobbins with an aftermarket HU.
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Your opinion is irrelevent becuase you drive an E36 which looks utter bobbins inside even if full of naked women.

I'm not saying an aftermarket HU looks perfect, merely that it isn't awful enough to prolong a car search un-neccesarily.
 
[TW]Fox;11880887 said:
Your opinion is irrelevent becuase you drive an E36 which looks utter bobbins inside even if full of naked women.

I'm not saying an aftermarket HU looks perfect, merely that it isn't awful enough to prolong a car search un-neccesarily.
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What in gods name does my choice of a cheap temporary banger have to do with my opinion of the E46 dash? :confused:

An aftermarket HU looks terrible in the E46, however the standard radio doesn't, the 16:9 nav doesn't, but also, well implemented carPC's don't.

Single DIN aftermarket stuff looks bad.
 
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